My Lords, this amendment would delete subsection (3) which states that:
“An order under subsection (1) may appoint different dates for different purposes (including different days for different parts of the United Kingdom)”;
that is, to commence the Act, as it will become. This gives the Minister considerable power and we would not willingly see that handed over because it will enable a pick-and-mix approach towards when different parts of the Bill come in.
My particular questions concern the provision, I think for the first time, to commence different parts of the Bill in different parts of the United Kingdom. It is
slightly hard to understand what the Government have in mind in writing that into the Bill. This is, after all, an all-UK provision, even if votes take place in different parts of the country. This Bill is about a new system of electoral registration and who will be on the register in the future. We would like to know why the Government feel they need a power to bring in just by ministerial order different parts of the Bill in different parts of the United Kingdom. I beg to move.